Gravity Bread Food & Lifestyle Bloghttp://gravitybread.com
A blog about my love for food, family and ways to encourage language through mealtime.Mon, 19 Mar 2018 10:00:36 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4http://gravitybread.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cropped-reading-kid-1-32x32.pngGravity Bread Food & Lifestyle Bloghttp://gravitybread.com
3232GravityBreadhttps://feedburner.google.comNatsumi!http://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/natsumi/
http://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/natsumi/#respondMon, 19 Mar 2018 10:00:36 +0000http://gravitybread.com/?p=9223When I first received Natsumi!in the mail from Penguin, I was immediately drawn the personality of the main character, Natsumi.

Natsumi! written by Susan Lendroth and illustrated by Priscilla Burris is a story about a young girl named Natsumi who struggles with being different and doing everything in her own “big way”. Natsumi isn’t like the other kids. She is loud, impulsive at times and wants to get things done her way.

During the Japanese festival, her grandmother asked Natsumi to carefully select specific flowers. Natsumi decided to pick all of the flowers! When her grandmother asked her to gently remove the bugs from the flowers, Natsumi whips her bouquet into a cloud of pollen, leaves and ants. “Not so fast, Natsumi!” is all she heard! She did everything quickly including stirring tea with her father.“Not so hard, Natsumi!” her father would say. Throughout the book, Natsumi felt like “No matter what I do, something always goes wrong”. Her grandfather takes Natsumi under his wing and helps her find her passion. He figures out how to take Natsumi’s qualities and highlight them in a big and wonderful surprise for the family at the end of the book.

I loved this book because I think many children can relate to the character of Natsumi, specifically children diagnosed with ADHD and/or sensory issues. Many children with ADHD struggle with doing tasks too fast and are often told by others to “slow down” and “do things carefully.” I loved how Natsumi’s grandfather takes her under his wing and highlights her strengths in a positive way. I also liked how the author incorporated Japanese culture into the book, which is another wonderful lesson for children. Natusumi! is an excellent book to be read aloud at home or in a classroom. It’s a book that celebrates all children and helps others accept all different personalities.

Reading and Language Tips: As you are reading this book, discuss the various emotions of the different characters and Natsumi’s personality traits. How do they clash with her family’s expectations? For example, model language like “Natsumi stirred the tea too hard and got her father messy with tea powder. Her father said “Not so hard Natsumi!” Her father felt _______ at Natsumi. How do you think Natsumi felt after being reprimanded? Discuss her emotions throughout the book and how they changed from the beginning of the book to the end. I think this is an excellent book to read to children with ADHD because they easily relate to how Natsumi might feel.

Relate this story to your own child’s life. Ask them, “Have you ever felt like Natsumi?” If a child can relate to the story or character in some way, they will be able to remember and understand the story better. If they can’t, maybe they can think of a peer or family member like Natsumi. As parents, we need to celebrate other children’s differences and teach our children to be more accepting of others in a world where we are all unique!

We often try to teach the young children in our lives the importance of practice, patience, and problem-solving. It can feel challenging to adequately arm future generations with these tools as we guide them towards a future of higher education, employment, and personal fulfillment – especially as future generations require new skills and face different means of assessment than what we may be familiar with.

With this definition of academic success in mind, parents and Pre-K12 institutions alike need to embrace new techniques for encouraging the development of critical thinking skills at the preschool and kindergarten levels to guide young learners towards a successful future in a changing academic landscape.

Strategies for Teaching Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking skills tend to be taught through exploration rather than explanation. In order to cultivate the habit of thoughtfulness and reflection within children, it’s important to present them with new concepts and ideas to strengthen their ability to find connections and solve problems.

Storytelling, for example, not only puts their creative muscles to use, but presents young children with the opportunity to build on what they already know (elephants are way bigger than dogs), discover something new (elephants and dogs make unlikely friends), and how to connect the two in a meaningful, analytical way (physical differences don’t always prevent friendships). The goal should always be to introduce children to new concepts and solutions.

Caitrin Blake, a lecturer at the Writing Center of Concordia University-Portland, points out that “learning to think critically will help students examine information and not take it at face value. They will be able to draw upon current knowledge, summarize and synthesize the information at hand, and determine whether it is factual, valuable and relevant.”

Free-writing, idea analysis, storytelling, and active learning are all proven strategies to help build critical thinking skills within kids.

Robots, Oh My!

Critical thinking skills are built on practice — for young children, this means regularly catching and keeping their attention. Luckily, teaching children the aspects of critical thinking can involve some hands-on fun and entertainment.

While new technologies may be challenging as a barrier of access to some parents, novel technologies can be the hook that children need to ignite their interests – and that fact hasn’t been lost on the marketers of STEM toys, an industry that has blossomed over the past two decades.

For example, young kids can make friends with Nao, a storying telling robot that will, as explained on KinderCare’s blog, “give students the chance to develop their science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills.” Nao, and other learning aids like it, are designed to help young children understand “if-then” logic, build literacy skills, and help them share ideas and problem solve.

While an understanding of STEM concepts is invaluable for young learners, being able to freely apply those ideas through toys and games will provide children a deeper, more critical understanding of these concepts from the start.

Teaching our children from a young age about the value of critical thinking will not only help them through their time in the classroom and eventual careers, but can help them feel more capable of making those important, sometimes life-changing decisions they’ll come across each day. With the variety of tools, books, or toys available to us, we have more options than ever as parents and educators to provide children a head-start towards more successful futures.

Are you looking for activities for St Patrick’s Day to do at home or in the classroom?

Check out the latest children’s book written by Laura Murrayand illustrated by Mike Lowerytitled The Gingerbread Man and the Leprechaun Loose at School. This book is another engaging, humorous and interactive book from Laura Murray about the infamous Gingerbread Man. What will happen when the mischievous Leprechaun comes to school? How will the Gingerbread Man find him to clean up the mess? With notes and clues being written in each room by the Leprechaun, the author combines interactive text, rhyming and expanded vocabulary opportunities for children as they are listening to the book.

Use expression as you are reading the book! This will make the experience of reading this book even more interactive and exciting for children. To learn more about reading expression through reading aloud, click here. As you are reading, define key words. For example, the sentence “One Monday in March, the mischief began with Hee-Hee-Hee from a wee little man.” What does mischief mean? This can be a good opportunity to talk about the definition of that word. Other words such as “crafty”, “sly” and “keen” are other excellent opportunities to expand vocabulary.

Laura Murray has wonderful educator resources on her website which are linked here.

To read my other review, The Gingerbread Man Loose at the Zoo, click here.

]]>http://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/the-gingerbread-man-and-the-leprechaun-loose-at-school/feed/0Women Who Marchhttp://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/women-who-march/
http://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/women-who-march/#respondThu, 08 Mar 2018 18:41:13 +0000http://gravitybread.com/?p=9197What better way to celebrate Women’s International Day but a children’s book that celebrates women? When I saw this book, Women Who March on my Twitter feed, I knew that I wanted to review it.

Women Who Marchis a children’s book about the organized 2017 Women’s March that was held on January 21st, 2017 in Washington D.C. The author teaches the reader about who marched, how people got there and why the women marched in this worldwide event. I loved how the author incorporated diversity into the book by highlighting how we can all be different but have the same cause. I think it’s a beautiful message that both young girls and boys can learn from. I think this is a book about empowerment for both young girls and women but both girls and boys benefit from reading this book. After reading Women Who March, my daughter asked some thoughtful questions about the event and about the specific topics discussed in the book. This is a book that can read to a younger child but older children benefit as well since the topics can be more complex to discuss and can lead to meaningful conversations. I wanted to take this review a little further by interviewing the author, Adena Raub Dershowitz, who is donating all of her proceeds from the book sales in the month of March to the National Organization for Women Foundation. To learn more about this book, check out the website here.

Can you tell me how your experience marching inspired the writing of the book, Women Who March?

I was very torn about attending the Women’s March, due to the fact that going to Washington DC meant leaving my 8-month old twins for the day. Ultimately, I decided to go, and the day afterwards, I tried to explain to my kids what I was doing the day before (clearly knowing they were too young to understand). I realized that this idea, translating a difficult and important moment in time into something children can understand, might be my way of contributing to the equal rights activism that was fueled by the march.

Tell me about your mission with publishing this book.

My mission is twofold. By using my Women’s March experience as inspiration, I hope to empower children to think about how they can contribute to activism and engagement to advance equality. Second, I will be donating royalties from the sale of the book to organizations and candidates who are working towards equal rights. During the month of March, royalties will be donated to the National Organization for Women Foundation.

What would you like young girls to learn from reading this book?

I hope that our readers, boys and girls, will learn that there was a moment in time when millions of adults and children around the world stood up and marched for equality. We marched for a better world for all, regardless of race, religion, ability, gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity. I hope that children will ask many questions and start conversations with the adults who read with them. And, I hope that someday, a child will find this book unnecessary, because equal rights and equal representation will be the rule rather than the exception.

Do you have a child with Autism? Are you an educator or a therapist that works with children with Autism?I wanted to share two wonderful resources with my readers today available from Future Horizons. Both of these tools can be helpful with regard to assessing a child with Autism and then using a video modeling intervention strategy for intervention.

The Autism Inventory Development (AID) by Roya Ostovar was designed to be a tool to gather critical information for the process of assessing for Autism Spectrum Disorder. This comprehensive assessment tools includes the following:
• Family History
• Child History
• Medical History
• Developmental Milestones
• Communication
• Cognitive and Executive Functioning Abilities
• Social Functioning
• Interests
• Sensory Integration and Processing
• Behaviors

According to the description, “The AID was created with two purposes in mind. First, it was created for clinicians to obtain a comprehensive record of a child’s history to assist in the diagnostic process. Second, and equally important, it was created for parents, caregivers, and/or family members to create a record for themselves that holds critical and important historical information for the individual being assessed.”

As a speech language pathologist that has worked with children diagnosed with Autism for over 18 years, I found this tool to be user friendly and very useful for assessment. I like how the sections are quick and easy to fill out without being overwhelming with open ended questions on the parents part. Since I evaluate many children at the preschool age, this tool would give me wonderful information for my assessments and will continue to be part of my toolbox!

Video Modeling, Visual Based Strategies to Help People on the Autism Spectrumby Stephen Lockwood is a functional intervention guide about using video modeling to build independence, transitions, play skills, social skills, teaching skills and vocational skills. This book is easy to read and can be a resourceful guide that can read over and over again. I also found it to be useful for both educators and therapists but equally helpful for parents and caregivers. The book is broken into sections by skills with ways to implement video modeling to meet specific goals.

What is video modeling?According to the Stephen Lockwood, “Video recording the individual to be taught or someone else, or finding commercially made videos highlighting the behavior to be taught. It is used to teach the skills and finally the individual is required to perform the skills.”

I love the intervention tool of video modeling and use it often in my speech and language therapy sessions. I have found it helpful to assist clients in daily living skills such as doing laundry, cooking simple meals and purchasing a small item at the store. I have used both commercially available videos as well as individualized videos and have seen great gains in skills with this type of intervention. I specifically like to use video modeling to meet specific social skills such as greeting, starting a conversation and taking turns in conversation. I found the examples in each chapter easy to relate to and the suggestions were helpful and easy to implement. Video Modeling is a book that should be a staple in special education classrooms, specifically with those that are working with children on the Autism Spectrum.

]]>http://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/assessment-and-intervention-for-autism/feed/0The Amazing Collection of Joey Cornellhttp://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/the-amazing-collection-of-joey-cornell/
http://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/the-amazing-collection-of-joey-cornell/#respondTue, 27 Feb 2018 12:07:27 +0000http://gravitybread.com/?p=9157Joey Cornell collected everything…anything that sparked his imagination or delighted his eye. ‘If I like it I keep it.’ Joey always said (The Amazing Collection of Joey Cornell, 2018).

Part of why I love blogging and reviewing children’s books is the learning process of learning about new people. When I received this book in the mail from Penguin, I was immediately fascinated with the story. My children and I read it together and then began looking through the various exhibits and creations that Joey Cornell has created in his many years as an artist.

The Amazing Collection of Joey Cornell by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Gerard DuBois tells the unique and interesting life of Joey Cornell. As a young boy, he was fascinated with collecting items and began creative artistic collections from a young age. I loved that his mother always encouraged his creativity and even helped him find additional items for his collections. She might have found it strange, but she also thought it was “wonderful.” I have a true appreciation for individuals who are “outside of the box”. Joey Cornell was definitely one of these artists that thought about art in different ways. He began collecting various items such as odd shaped pebbles and butterfly wings. When he was a young boy, his father died of leukemia and his family was very sad for a long time. Joey found comfort in his collections and used this to inspire him and others. His art was also very unique because he was inspired by every day objects and how they related to each other. He would create art by combining items in a box and then displaying them.

To learn more about Joey Cornell, his life and his artwork, click here.

Carryover activity: Go on a scavenger hunt for everyday items that feel interesting to you and your child. An old coin? an old ticket from a show you attended? When you have your items collected, place them in a glass box and glue or tape them in place. If you don’t have a glass box, use a clear container left from packing material. If you can’t find anything clear, use a shoe box for your art exhibit. I love art because there is no right or wrong. Your creations and your art is unique and shouldn’t be judged in any way.

]]>http://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/the-amazing-collection-of-joey-cornell/feed/0A Chip Off The Old Blockhttp://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/a-chip-off-the-old-block/
http://gravitybread.com/books-and-mealtime/a-chip-off-the-old-block/#respondMon, 26 Feb 2018 12:02:44 +0000http://gravitybread.com/?p=9177Are you going on a road trip? Would you like to help introduce your children to different types of rock formations and natural landmarks?

Check out A Chip Off the Old Block written by Jody Jensen Shafferand illustrated by Daniel Miyares. I loved this book, because it combines factual information with a valuable lesson about building character and finding your place in the world despite various challenges.

Rocky is a sweet likable pebble who can’t find his place in the world. He comes from a long line of famous rock formation relatives named Uncle Gibraltar, Aunt Etna, and Great-Grandma Half Dome that are just some of the legendary rock formations he calls family. He is a little pebble but he has big ideas! How can he find some way to be important and really matter? What he discovers at the end of the story, is that you can find your place in the most unexpected ways. This is a book about celebrating a child’s unique qualities and a person’s determination to succeed. Even though Rocky had many challenges throughout the story, he never gave up until he found where he belonged. He also proved that even though he was small, his persistence was larger than life!

Language Tips:As you reading A Chip Off the Old Block, define words that may be unfamiliar to your child. Discuss the different types of rocks at the end with the outstanding traits. What makes one rock different from another? Define the difference between a mountain and a volcano. This book is also fun of puns, which can be a language activity in itself.

A Chip Off the Old Blockis a book that would be perfect to be read over and over because of the different types of information both factual and non-factual. If you haven’t visited many national parks, your child may be unfamiliar with these landmarks but take the opportunity to teach them through pictures online or short videos. To check out more fun activities with rocks, check out these activity by Teach Junkie.

Do you have a child with Autism? Do you have a child with complex communication needs? Are you an educator that wants to raise awareness of different types of learners and disabilities?

When I was recently teaching a graduate class about AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication), one of my students recommended this book, Rules. That night I came home and purchased it online. I read the book in about one day and was engaged in both the storyline and valuable lessons that could be learned from reading this book. This book is excellent for both at home reading but even better for a classroom in a academic environment.

Rulesis written from the perspective of twelve year old Catherine, who has a brother with Autism. Throughout the book, Catherine lists various rules for David to help him navigate his world better. Some of Catherine’s rules for David are “Sometimes people laugh when they like you. But sometimes they laugh to hurt you.” Another rule is “It’s fine to hug Mom, but not the clerk at the video store.”

Life is difficult for Catherine because she often feels overwhelmed by her brother’s Autism and feels alone in her world because of the constant needs of her brother. As the story develops, she learns the appreciate her responsiblities of being his sister and learns to appreciate his differences.

Catherine goes weekly with her mother and brother to David’s occcupational therapy appointment because she likes the private time with her mother when David is in therapy. During that time in the waiting room, she meets Jason a boy with complex communication needs that uses a communication book as his primary means of communication. During her first interaction with Jason, she sketches a picture of him and immediately gets negative feedback from Jason’s mother because she never asked for his permission before sketching him. After feeling embarrassed, she decides to take this opportunity to interact with Jason and begin a beautiful friendship with him. She learns about his disability, but most importantly she learns about who he is as a person and how his disability does not define him. As a speech language pathologist who specializes in field of AAC, I appreciated this book because of Catherine’s role in being a dedicated sister to David and learning about true friendship with Jason. As part of the development in friendship with Jason, she plays a very important role in the development of words and pictures for Jason’s communication book. She learns about how important descriptive words are such as “Awesome” and “Dazzling” but also how negative words are vital to communication.

Rulesshould be a required read for both students in intermediate school but also for graduate students in the field of speech language pathology.

Are you an educator? Check out this resources provided by the author, Cynthia Lord. To learn more about Cynthia click here.

“I am Harriet Tubman. Follow me. I will lead the way to freedom.” I am Harriet Tubman (2018)

I am thrilled to be a part of the I am Harriet Tubman Blog Toursponsored by Penguin Young Readers. If you have been following this blog tour, you might have already seen the reviews posted by my fellow bloggers. If not, here is the list!

I am Harriet Tubmantakes the reader on an adventure by learning about the fascinating life of Harriet Tubman. The author takes you through her many hardships in childhood during the time of slavery and how she used this time to shape the accomplishments she achieved as an adult. When reading this book, your child will learn about Harriet’s bravery, the Underground Railroad and how she risked her own life to save others. By the end of the story. your child will have a true appreciation for the amazing risks that Harriet took to free her people from slavery. This book is perfect for Black History Month because it can lead to many stimulating conversations about Harriet Tubman and the world she lived in at the time. Discuss the Civil War, the Underground Railroad and the hardships of the people living in the South. As I read this book, I noticed the opportunity to expand vocabulary through the use of a vocabulary expansion activity.

Print out the worksheets and then cut into cards. For the last page, let your child be creative in drawing their own definition for “freedom.” This activity can be completed in a classroom or at home. Encourage your child to be creative and if needed, give examples to help define the vocabulary. For more tips on how to encourage expanding vocabulary, click here.

Baby Juma the Giraffe wonders this when looking at his reflection one day. In the heart warming story of Juma the Giraffe written by Monica Bond and illustrated by Kayla Harren, Juma feels ordinary because he thinks he is like all of the other giraffes. His friend, Upendo likes to explore new places and his other friend Rafiki makes everyone laughs with his silly faces. What makes him different than everyone else? What are his unique qualities?

When he was at the water hole one day, “He saw his reflection in the water alongside the other giraffes who were drinking. As Juma gazed at the reflections, he realized that he looked just like all the other giraffes. And because they all looked alike, he felt he wasn’t special.” If he had the same long neck and legs as all of the other giraffes, what makes him different? He felt sad about this looked to his mom for comfort. Throughout the story, his mother teaches him a valuable lesson about what makes him unique in both the animal kingdom and among other giraffes. She explains to him how his neck helps him reach leaves in the trees, his spots help him hide him from predators and that his thick tongue and tough lips don’t hurt when pulling and eating leaves with thorns. Juma also notices his own pattern of spots that are different than all of the other giraffes, which makes him feel grateful and empowered.

Juma the Giraffeis not only a heartwarming story about a baby giraffe and her mother, it’s an educational experience that can read over and over again. Throughout the story, the author Monica Bond exposes children to vocabulary that is familiar to children living in Africa such as baobab tree, acacia trees, dik-diks, ossicones and much more, but may be unfamiliar to children in other places in the world. I loved this book because it teaches children an important lesson about individuality and also gives facts about giraffes in their natural habitat. What makes this book even more unique is that it’s written by a wildlife biologist who lives in Tanzania and dedicates her career to ensuring a future for giraffes and other wildlife of the African Savanna.

When I visited the website for Juma the Giraffe, I was very impressed with all of the Parent and Teacher Resources! Check out the website here.

I am thrilled to include this author interview with Monica Bond. I am fascinated and empowered by Monica’s background and her dedication to making our world a better place by protecting the environment and raising awareness for the wild animals that have a right to live without disturbance in their natural environment. In our busy world, it so important to take a moment to be thankful for the wonderful people in this world that dedicate their lives to this cause and together we can make a difference. Thank you Monica!

What inspired you to write Juma the Giraffe?

I wrote Juma the Giraffe from my deep love of giraffes and wild nature. Giraffes are the most beautiful and peaceful animal, but they are vulnerable to extinction because people have taken so much of their wild natural habitat for human uses. To save wild nature, we must know it and love it, so I wrote Juma to help children and their parents to know and love giraffes as individuals. In this way, we can give wild animals the rights to life and happiness that everyone deserves.

How has your career influenced you as a writer?

My career is an expression of my deepest beliefs about how our world works and the proper way a caring person should live in it. Science, religion and philosophy all agree and support the basic truth that everything is connected, so whatever happens to giraffes or the trees in their habitat is also happening to me, and to all of us. I think I’ve always known this, and my training as a scientist confirmed it. Now I practice conservation biology in order to better understand this beautiful world that I love so much. I work to understand and protect the world and ourselves from those of us who have forgotten that basic truth that everything is connected.

What do you think is the most important lesson that you want children to learn from Juma the Giraffe?

Juma the Giraffe is a story about how every individual is unique and special, both on the outside and on the inside. Kids are all brilliant and unique, but there is a lot of social pressure to conform, and this can stifle their natural genius. I hope Juma can remind kids that they are unique and that their special talents are important to society. But there is also a lot that connects us to each other, and that is an additional message for children in the Juma story—that in many ways we are also alike and this is something to appreciate in one another.

After reading Juma the Giraffe, I wondered how children and their parents can help conserve a future for the giraffes and other wildlife. What do you think is the best way?

Many concerned people have asked me what they can do to help save giraffes. Giving money or time to conservation groups like Wild Nature Institute is a great first action to help giraffes. Whatever your skill set, there is an important place for you in the giraffe conservation world where you can make a difference. ​The next step is to raise awareness of the problem within your social circles, and encourage others to donate money or time to saving giraffes. We need volunteers to raise awareness in their home communities, by writing, speaking, and contributing to the global conversation about our planet’s biodiversity crisis. People also can use their career skills by providing advice, services, or goods in their personal area of expertise that can help the cause.

Can you tell me about a little bit about The Wild Nature Institute and their mission.

Wild Nature Institute conducts scientific research about at-risk wildlife and their habitats, advocates for their protection, and educates the public about the need to preserve wild nature. We didn’t make this world, and we don’t really know how it works, so we need to preserve its wild places so they can keep us and the rest of the earth alive. This is the most important thing anyone can do.